There have been several new happenings in the Harry Potter universe that I think are worth comment.
1) The film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been pushed back from its November 21, 2008 release date to a release date of July 17, 2009. Why the change? Well, reports are mixed ... from Warner Bros. lacking a tent-pole release next summer due to the writer's strike to the studio needing that much time to complete international versions of the film for a world-wide release. My guess is that while both may be true, the need for a big film next summer is the true reason for the change. After all, it comes down to money, especially for a cash-cow like this franchise. Fans will be/are upset, but my guess is that Warner is shrugging off the ill-will, figuring that these same people who care enough to vocal complainers will still see the film theatrically. The funny thing is, this change is announced the SAME WEEK as the theatrical release of the movie's trailer with Star Wars: Clone Wars, and the trailer, which has been available on the internet for a few weeks, clearly displays the November release.
2) A few weeks ago, it was announced that the rare (limited to 7 hand-written and illustrated copies) text of The Tales of Beedle the Bard(which plays an important part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has been mass-produced (obviously no longer hand-written or illustrated) and will become available to loyal, anything-for-Harry-Potter-universe fans on December 4th. The book is being sold to benefit a charity, like other small HP book tie-ins, and is available for around $7.50 from many book stores.
Here's a link to the book on Amazon's page: Link
Amazon, of course, having spent millions to purchase one of the original copies, has something special (read "pricey") up their sleeves. They've unveiled a collector's edition of limited run (yeah right ... "only" 100,000) meant to look more like the version that cost them $4 million. This edition is $100, still benefits charity, and definitely looks cool.
Here's a link to the collector's edition: Link
What's a fan to do?
No comments:
Post a Comment